


Time to Think (Or Wish You Didn't)

by Althearcher



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cute, Domestic Fluff, Feelings Realization, Keith catches the gay, Keith doesn't know how to emotions, M/M, Minor Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Multi, Pining Keith (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron), They found shiro and everything is FINE because I want it to be whose in denial? IM NOT IN DENIAL, does not know how to handel, may have little bit of angst, or what a crush is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-23 22:42:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9684728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Althearcher/pseuds/Althearcher
Summary: Things have kind of evened out for Team Voltron. Since finding Shiro, life had taken on a steady pace of eat, sleep, tell Prince Lotor to eat a bag of dicks, and try not to die. And in all of calm, Keith had time to think about things he's never had the chance to before. For example: how it should be illegal for Lance to ever wear a tank-top.





	1. Chapter 1

Keith never had time for anything outside of the realm of survival.

Even from his childhood things like romance or games were kind of off his radar. When he wasn’t struggling to keep himself from falling apart, he was training and practicing so he could even be anything close to Shiro back at the Garrison.

When he dropped out, then he was too focused on trying to survive without a steady income or Shiro to fall back to, not to mention the nagging itch in the back of his mind that there was something out in the desert- something calling him.

Then Shiro came back, they found Blue and Lance flew him through a goddamn wormhole- and from there you can imagine how his life’s been. Train, fight, recover, survive- a life that although containing aliens and psychic flying robot lions, is familiar to Keith.

Life has kinda streamlined Keith, not giving him a lot of time to totally process anything about it or himself. But despite his life being arguably weirder right now than at any other time in his life, he felt himself begin to relax.

Since Zarkon was more or less defeated and they found Shiro, despite his bad shape and whiter hair, life for Keith had kinda turned… episodic.

Like, don’t get him wrong, they were still sprinting from battle to battle, crisis to crisis, and fighting Lotor was no picnic- stupid overdramatic prick- but overall a steady rhythm had established in the Castle.

They’d fight, free another planet or flee, recover, train, and wait for the next call for help. Hunk would make dinner every night with Coran, finding new and creative ways to make food goo and scraps into delicacies.

Shiro would go around and collect everyone for dinner, usually getting Kieth from the training deck, bang on a vent panel in the hallway between the rooms where Pidge would either drop out of or yell for five more minutes.

Coran would call Allura down, Lance would practically materialize at the table (for being such a skinny beanpole _man_ could that guy eat), and they’d eat Hunk’s creations- banter around the table, discuss tactics and mistakes from the last battle, and their next move against Lotor and Hagar.

They had a rotating schedule for who cleaned dishes, and even though Hunk was never on it because he made dinner he would always stick around and help because he was the only one who knew where everything went and _I need my workspace the way I want or there will be anarchy in this castle, mark my words Keith-_

It was the same routine each night. For once in Keith's life, things felt steady, ironically enough.

Looking at the way that Shiro was starting to smile again, and how Coran’s laughs didn’t seem so forced and faked- Keith decided it might be a good thing.

Another thing that Keith never had in his life until now was an abundance of people he liked around him.

He realized now that he’s been rather isolated as kid, even at Garrison- being the best in your class get’s you no friends. He learned that quickly.

But now he would sit around the kitchen and chat with Hunk as he cooked, or go over government conspiracies with Pidge because at least someone else understood that Nessie was fake but _there’s actual proof UFOs in New Mexico from YEARS ago and the government fucking HID IT-_

Shiro and Keith were pretty close as always, and slowly bit by bit he was losing that fragile look in his eyes that made Keith want to cry or punch something for hurting his brother.

Allura spent a lot time with Shiro, and had long since gotten over the prejudice at Keith’s Galra heritage- spending weeks apologizing despite Keith repeatedly telling her she was forgiven.

Coran was always more than happy to get help with maintaining the castle and having a willing ear to his fantastical stories about Voltron thousands of years ago and about the one time King Alfor forgot it was Allura's birthday and thus woke up Coran at 1 am and dragged him across universe looking for a gift, practically screaming the entire time.

Then there was Lance.

Lance- was something else for lack of a better word.

Through Voltron the two stopped bickering so much, or at least seriously. They still bantered but that was all it was, banter.

It was still easy to get annoyed at how obtuse he was sometimes, especially when they running nothing but adrenaline and constant stress. Little quirks became the most annoying habits. And at that point in time and stress- Lance _was_ an annoying habit.

But as life began to slow down to steady pace, Keith begun to notice _things._

Things about Lance.

And things about himself. Things he never really had the time to think about, until now.

And despite all of the domestic happiness that was great about right now, Keith wanted nothing more than to _stop_ noticing these things. He would take Lotor one on one any day than be in a room with Lance for more than five minutes.

Because him doing anything at all was the most distracting thing ever. Of all time.

When he made some stupid pun, it made Keith want to punch him and chuckle simultaneously. When he gave one of Cocky Lance Smirks™ , Keith was caught somewhere between blushing and violence.

Even the little way his nose would scrunch up and his eyebrows would lower when he was focusing something was enough to fill Keith with rage.

What. The. Hell.

At first Keith didn’t know what to do- scratch that, he still doesn’t know what to do.

This was hell.

So he did what he always did when emotions happened, he went down to the training deck to blow off some steam and get rid of any wanted feelings.

Only to find the platform occupied.

If it were any other person, this would’ve been an okay thing. Team training was always good.

But as Keith approached the door, he could easily identify the sound of blaster shots- and only two of their bayards was a gun.

 _Please be Hunk, please be Hunk, please be Hunk,_ Keith prayed internally, but since his life has been one long cliche up to this point there was no point for it to stop now.

Low and behold there was the annoying object of his frustrations, shooting away at droids.

Lance was showy a lot of the time, but when it came to the battlefield or training he was always focused.

But looking at Lance now, the sweat dripping down his face the determined look in his eyes- it was a level that Keith had never seen from him. It was intense as hell.

That’s the moment that Keith became acutely aware Lance wasn’t wearing armor. Or his jacket.

Instead he was wearing a tanktop that he must of picked up from some planet- everyone’s own wardrobe had increased over the course of the war-  and Keith felt himself go red.

He’s never actually seen Lance in anything this tight.  And despite still being all limbs and joints, long and smooth, Lance’s shoulder to waist ratio was actually impressive.

The time training had done him well- jeans clinging to his legs a bit tighter than before, and his shoulders and arms developing lean but very very noticeable muscle that Keith could now actually see with that freaking tank top on and the tan expanse of his arms and shoulders with very well kept skin that looked soft- **_Focus Keith_**.

Keith realised he’s just been standing there, ogling Lance like a creep for probably a solid minute. And yet he could bring himself to unseal his feet from the floor beneath him, eyes fixed on Lance moving across the room skillfully, and thankfully away from him.

He was actually pretty good at fighting, despite all of the crap that Keith may give him. He shot the droids left and right, moving through them gracefully.

Keith could faintly recall a time he mentioned at the dinner table that his family taught him to dance. If they did, they did a damn fine job.

He moved like he was dancing, slick like water, dancing around the droids like it was second nature. It was intoxicating.

A droids shot got a little too close for comfort, Keith taking a sharp inhale because although that tank top was a gift to the universe it also wasn’t really protective and if anything happen to those perfect arms god forbid Keith would _lose his fucking mind-_

“End firefight session,” Lance called out, voice even if not exhilarated, making Keith sigh with relief. He is isn’t hurt, there’s nothing to worry about-

“Activate hand to hand sparring simulation, level 10.”

Keith’s eyebrows shot up to his mullet. Level ten? That wasn’t far from Keith’s level. Perhaps Lance was better than he originally thought.

Maybe they could spar together sometimes- it’d be a lot better sparring with a real partner who could make quips and reacted like a real human.

And for a moment his mind wandered to what that’d fight be like- throwing jokes and half hearted insults to one another while trading punches not heavy enough to do any serious damage, Lance facing him with that stupid smirk before turning serious, intense like he does in here, panting and sweaty as they dance around each other, before they fight and grapple and Keith grabs a fistful of tanktop to throw him off balance- WHAT.

Keith snapped himself out of his day dream as he realized the direction _that_ idea might be taking, and began to realize that perhaps his anger at Lance wasn’t really anger.

And once again you have to understand, Keith hasn’t dealt with any emotions, like ever.

Especially things that made him feel like… _this._

It was terrifying on every single level of terrifying.

“Hey Keith!” A yell brought him back to reality. Keith’s focused snapped up to Lance, leaning on his bayard with the simulation paused.

“Are you going to train or what? I’m still busy, but I guess we could train-”

Keith sprinted away.

Lance stood there, looking at the empty door way, “-together. Huh. Wonder what’s up with him.”

Keith on the other hand, was dying internally while speeding walking his way through the castle. Nope, nope, nope, nope, _nope,  n o p e._

That was not about to happen.

Not today Satan.

He didn’t know what to do or what was even happening to him. So when in doubt he did what he always does when faced with human interaction- he went to go find Shiro.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is an idiot, and basically everyone knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In celebration of Valentines day, have an extra long chapter today. Please leave a kudos or comment below!

Shiro is a dick.

Shiro is a dick and Keith _hates him._

“Are you done yet?” Keith growled, crossing his arms and looking down at their mess of a leader who was lying on the floor, laughing so hard that if Keith _didn’t_ hate Shiro right now, he’d be concerned whether he could breathe or not.

Shiro apparently wasn’t done yet, as looking back up at Keith seemed to make things even worse, pointing at Keith’s brilliantly red face with a wide, wordless grin- laughs that were so hard they weren’t really even making sounds anymore. He tried to cover his mouth, but couldn’t stop shaking his head and chuckling- making Keith even more pissed than before.

The one person he thought he could trust on this ship with anything- and this is the reaction. If he wanted to be laughed at he would’ve went to Pidge, or god forbid Lance, but not Shiro.

Shiro had looked at him and put aside whatever he was reading to ask what was wrong, _promised_ not to react, and when Keith told him about his random ~~obsession~~ _annoyance_ with Lance, this is what happened.

A 200 pound pile of hardened PTSD and leadership, lying on the ground in a fit of uncontrollable giggles.

There he is ladies, gentlemen, and Pidge- the leader of the defenders of the universe.

Being a massive dick.

“Shiro,” Keith said in a warning tone, even though he was bright red and really _really_ desperate for advice because who else could he go to? Hunk was Lance’s best friend, so despite being the literal embodiment of the Teletubbies Sun, he couldn’t be fully trusted, Allura was girl as well as an alien so he figured somethings might not transfer, Pidge was Pidge, and Coran had the weirdest advice out of all of them.

But Shiro here is not living up to Keith’s expectations. At all.

“Alright, alright, I’m done,” Shiro said weakly, wiping laughter tears out of his eyes and sitting up with the most insincere grin of his entire life. Shiro is a saint _his_   _ass_.

“Are you sure? You don’t look done you fucking traitor.” Keith grumbled, embarrassed and annoyed. “Language,” Shiro said, but it had a lot less authority behind it than usual.

Keith rolled his eyes and sat at the edge of Shiro’s bed, tucking his knees to his chest. Shiro seemed to sober up, pulling himself up onto the bed next to Keith and wiping away the majority of humor from his face, minus a small smile that was too genuine for Keith to hate. After Shiro being gone for so long, any smile was a good smile. Even if it was at his own expense.

“So,” Shiro started, “my question is what the problem is?” Keith’s head snapped over to Shiro.

“The problem? The problem is this exists! Whatever- _reaction_ I have when Lance is around makes no sense and should not exist. Like, I don’t hate him or anything but everything he does just gets my nerves and is so distracting- And I don’t know why! There’s no good reason that I should feel like that! I can’t figure it out.” Keith said, resignedly put his chin back on his knees, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Keith ran through the realm of possibilities in his mind of what was happening to him right now. Maybe it was because they’d been in space to long together? Like a sort of cabin fever. Or maybe it was Galra thing? _Wow_ did Keith still need closure on that corner of his life. But that might make sense-

Keith’s thoughts were interrupted with the sound of a little snort coming from his left. He turned and looked at Shiro who was trying (and failing) to cover his grin while looking at Keith.

What a dick.

“Keith,” Shiro said, voice oddly strangled, obviously holding back more laughter, “I think you have a crush.”

Silence.

“I have a _what?”_

“A crush, you know, when you have romantic feelings for another and want to be intimate or close with-” “-I _know what a crush is Shiro_ ,” Keith cut him off, stopping that line of thought, “what I don’t understand is what this has to do with me being all annoyed with Lance.”

Shiro blinked at Keith. “Keith… have you ever had a crush on anyone before?”

Keith thought about it for a moment, but eventually burrowed his head back into his knees. “I never had time,” his words came out muffled against his jeans.

Shiro covered his mouth again, but wasn’t laughing this time. “Oh my god,” he gaped at Keith, “this is really your first crush.”

“Lance is _not_ my first crush. I’ve probably had one before and I don’t remember it. Plus it’s not as if I’d ever have a crush on Lance of all people- I mean like why? We hate each other, and he’s not even-” Keith cut himself because he knew the next words out of his mouth were about to be a deadass lie.

“Not even what?” Shiro asked, and Keith just should his head said “nothing.”

They both knew what word he was about to say- _attractive._ And although he was a beanpole, there was no denying on board that Lance was actually attractive. With the way he perfected skin care like an art, actually showered on a daily basis, and with the rigorous training of being a Paladin- yeah he was a lot of things, but unattractive was not one of them.

“Look Keith, I know this must be weird for you-”

“Of course it’s weird for me! I mean I don’t particularly remember ever being attracted to anyone and then this happens and I-” Keith held his head in his hands, “-I still can’t stand him, but we were just starting to actually be friends and I don’t want to ruin that with some stupid crush!”

He leaned his head back, letting it thump against the wall. “It will just make things weird.”

It would make things weird. Anyone having romantic feeling for anyone on board will make things weird, besides maybe Shiro and Allura- but that’s because they’ve been dubbed Space Mom and Space Dad for months now. But Keith one sidedly pining for Lance, a guy who would chase a skirt into an active volcano? Weird on so many levels.

“Keith,” Shiro said, sounding too honest to ignore, “look, it’s normal to have crushes,”

“But is it normal to have a first crush when you're nearly an adult? Or on someone who you previously couldn’t stand?” Keith cut him off.

It was weird. Keith always knew he might be a little, _off,_ when it came to romantic attraction- but to be honest he never really had the time to think about it. Maybe if he hadn’t been so busy this wouldn’t be his first attraction (he was refusing to call it a crush) and this wouldn’t be so horribly embarrassing.

But to be honest, this little lull in their adventure was the first break Keith ever got. Now that things were calming down his eyes were wandering and unfortunately, they were wandering to Lance.

At least he had guessed that he was probably attracted to guys a few years ago- at least that’s one crisis out of the way.

“Keith, I won’t pretend to know all the answers you need. But I will say it’s perfectly natural for people not really have a first crush-” Keith glared, “Infatuation,” Shiro corrected himself, “until their older. For some people, they have to get really close to others before they can even begin to feel that way. Maybe you're like them. Also, your life has always been fast paced- and you’ve always put yourself in last place on the list of things you cared about. You pushed your feelings aside until they boil over, Keith, and it wasn’t healthy.”

Keith lowered his head back into his knees, knowing that Shiro was absolutely right. He had horrible time as kid internalizing feelings, so being a hothead kind of came naturally to him.

“But,” Shiro amended, “You’ve been getting better recently. Piloting Red is doing a lot of good for you, and from what I heard you weren’t a bad leader when I wasn’t around.”

Keith opened his mouth to object, but no sounds came. He didn’t want to say anything that would cause them to linger on the time that Shiro was gone. That was a time that Keith was not okay remembering.

“I think you’ve gotten a lot better at caring for others, and yourself Keith. Maybe realizing you have feelings in a part of that,” Shiro suggested.

Keith sighed. Why did everything Shiro said always had to sound so reasonable and logical? Just for once Keith wished he could have an argument with him that he could win- not that this was an argument. Sort of.

“Also, it’s not like you and Lance really hate each other,” Shiro pointed out, “you just push each other's buttons and have fun in your own weird, combative way. If anything,” Shiro said, letting small sly smirk crawl across his face, “its kind your guys’ way of flirting-” “OKAY THAT’S ENOUGH THANK YOU SHIRO.”

Shiro laughed a little, Keith turning into a firetruck again. A crush on Lance? What would that even be like? Keith wasn’t looking forward to finding out. So he’ll do what he always does- Internalize the hell out of it.

“No, no, no, no,” Shiro said, turning toward Keith, who looked back him with confusion. “I _know_ that look- that’s the “Let’s just bury that deep inside and never think about it again” look! Don’t bury this Keith! It’s not good for you, or for anyone on board!”

“Then what do I do Shiro? Keep mooning over Lance until my eyes fall out or someone notices?” Keith replied back, just as aggravated.

“I don’t know, but don’t ignore it! That’s not good for you, or Voltron,” he said, on a more serious note. Keith collapsed backwards. He was right. If Keith didn’t at least acknowledge that this was a problem, who knows what problems it could cause.

“As for what to do… it may go away in time. A lot of crushes do. But,” Shiro looked at Keith with a weird look in his eye, “You could always try your luck a little bit, I don’t Lance is as far out you reach as you think-”

“WHOOPS SORRY I FORGOT CORAN ASKED ME TO HELP CLEAN THE PODS AGAIN SORRY I’VE GOTTA GO BYE.” Keith shouted, bright red and heading for the door, not even stopping when he heard Shiro break down into uncontrollable laughter.

What a dick.

\---

Keith felt like he was drowning. It was honestly the only thing he could compare his current state to.

It was something that once he noticed he could never unnotice it. With Keith usually having to always be focused on surviving the present, the immediate threats that lay before him- he never really had time to admire a person aesthetically. That’s all it is, Keith told himself, aesthetic appreciation.

Even he could tell that was lie in his own head.

But now, it was so hard to unsee Lance in this new light. Because to be honest… he was really good looking.

Even right now, leaning on the kitchen bar top and aimlessly chatting with Pidge and Hunk, he managed to just be so distracting. And he wasn’t even doing it on purpose! That’s probably what pissed Keith off the most about it- the fact that it was apparently effortless for Lance be like this.

Don’t get him wrong- Lance was no less of a little shit than before. Even as Keith was barely just rounding the corner to the kitchen area he could hear Hunk and Pidge half laughing and half groaning at whatever Lance had said, Hunk managing out “Get that shitty humor out my kitchen Lance, you’ll infect something.”

Lance responded with an entirely unnecessary eyebrow wiggle and the smirking tone lacing his words, “Oh? Well it’s a little late for that, since I’ve already infected everyone's hearts” he said, earning another arm slap from Pidge and a disgusted noise from Hunk.

You have no fucking clue, Keith thought to himself.

Lance was propped up on his elbows on the counter, an easy grin on his face as his hair still tousled from training- but thank the lord that he was wearing his jacket. If he were in the tank top again, Keith would’ve just melted into the floor and died, not that he would’ve minded- Off topic Keith.

But overall it wasn’t like Lance had changed, he was still the same as usual, but now Keith looked at him like he was under a microscope- every little half chuckle, hair ruffle with those insanely long thin figures, every neck roll and winking smirk now noted and blown up in Keith’s mind- dissecting and studying them like he did with the alien theories he obsessed with as a kid.

He was attractive sure- but seeing him at ease like this- seeing the calm happiness like this- it felt different. It kind of felt good.

“Hey Keith!” Pidge called out, snapping Keith from his ~~Lance trance~~ _train of thought_ and back into reality, where Pidge sat at the edge of the counter, legs swinging freely and Hunk was moving around, collecting what looked like mechanic plans, and Lance was leaning on his elbows looking up at Keith with an inquiring look.

“Are you gonna stand there or what?” Pidge continued, smirking.

The look on their face made Keith freeze up. Alarms blared in Keith’s head. _Oh shit they know they know they know I have been found out I need to leave life forever aBORT ABORT ABORT-_

“You spacing out man?” Hunk asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

Keith breathed for a moment. Calm yourself man. Pidge was always teasing everyone for everything- and Hunk was just being his normal self as always. Nothing was wrong. The balance was still in place, Keith wasn’t a laughing stock yet, Lance didn’t think he was creep and no one suspected a thing.

He was all good.

“Yeah, just thinking.” Keith said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lance snorted and gave a grin “Don’t think to hard or you’ll hurt your head pretty boy.”

Fuck never mind Keith was not all good. Not at all. Not for one fucking nanosecond.

Keith tried to fight the heat rising to his face and that weird flipping sensation in his chest, struggling to find some comeback that wasn’t lame. Come on Keith, you’ve been dead inside for years, why can’t you manage a little emotion deflection when you need it?

He cursed at himself internally but managed a response as he walked towards the counter, “You keep talking trash and the only thing I’ll be hurting is you.”

That was good right? Not flirting or anything? Shiro’s stupid words about their banter wouldn’t leave his mind, and Keith internally cursed him for saying anything. Even from across the castle, Shiro was still managing to be a dick.

Pidge ‘ohhh’ed while Lance rolled his eyes and threw his head back, replying “Lameee.” Keith grinned nerves starting to die, the familiar pace between them picking up again.

“You know, I just realized the word Lame is only a few letters off of Lance. Wonder why?” He teased, crossing his arms as Lance turned his head to face him.

“Because you already took dumbass,” he returned, Keith rolling eyes fondly.

Pidge looked at him, squinting and saying “That doesn’t really make a lot of sense.”

Lance flushed a little, yelling “You don’t make sense!”

Keith wanted to roll his eyes. There he was- the paragon of maturity.

Pidge pushed up her glasses, deadpanning “True. Scientists today are still baffled about how someone as intelligent and amazing as I am is stuck with you losers. Truly astonishing.”

Lance rolls his eyes now, saying “Oh shut up you love us and you know it.”

“Whatever helps your lonely ass sleep at night,” Pidge shrugged, earning a head shake and half laugh from Lance.

Keith laughed a little bit, but found his voice frozen in his chest as he looked Lance- suddenly much more aware of his own heartbeat and the way Lance’s sincere smile made his chest seized up. It wasn’t fair. Even a small interaction like this was sending him reeling. What was wrong with him?

“So,” Hunk said, startling him from his thoughts, “I was thinking since it's gonna take us another day to get the next planet, maybe we could watch a movie tonight or something. I found some Altean holovids- I don't know if they're any good but we could ask Allura.”

“That sounds awesome man,” Lance said approvingly, as Pidge nodded along.

“Sounds cool, I wonder how different Altean movies are from our movies. I might take some notes on that actually,” Pidge said, looking down at her papers and rifling through until she found a blank piece.

Keith frowned. “I don't know… shouldn't we train or something while we have the time? We should be a prepared as we can possibly be for each fight,” he added, unsure.

He knew that they had done these missions dozens of times before, but one tiny mistake could end it all. It was their responsibility to make sure that didn't happen right?

“Oh come on Keith,” Lance wined and Keith didn't not like it when he said Keith's name nope nope _not one bit_ , “Do you ever take a break?” No. “Our next mission is just an ambassador visit, there shouldn’t even be any combat.” Lance added.

Hunk nodded along, but Keith crossed his arms and remained stubborn. “Doesn’t mean there won’t be one,” he added. Even peaceful missions could turn into a battle at the drop of a hat.

“Whoa whoa calm down there Rambo,” Lance said, standing up, hands up in a defensive manner, “not everything has to end in a fight. It’s not illegal for you to take a break man,” he pointed out, not annoyed enough for Keith’s liking.

“I’m fine,” Keith grumbled, not wanting to say that this virtually was a break for him. He didn’t want to relax more. He’s slowed down for half of a second and look at what’s already happened. He’d take a fight over dealing with his emotions any day.

“Come onnnn,” Lance whined, “all you do is eat, sleep, and train. You are allowed to have fun y’know? Stop being so boring.” Keith rolled his eyes, trying to ignore any embarrassment he felt under the attention over someone who's been... Distracting him lately.

“Why do you want me there so badly anyways if I’m so boring?” Keith objected, trying to sound annoyed but ended up sounding more flustered than anything. Shit he was bad at this.

Lance didn’t seem to notice and kept talking, shrugging and saying, “It’s a team activity and Shiro will complain if you don’t come. Also someone has to help pull out the stick shoved up your ass- and who better than me, the master of fun, ladies, and good times.”

He wiggled his eyebrows again, making Pidge make a gagging noise and Hunk shout, “What ladies?” from across the room with a laugh.

“Screw you Hunk,” Lance shot back at him. Keith shook his head, determinately trying not to be affected by his words.

Ladies. Right. As if Keith could relate to that.

“I’m perfectly fine the way I am,” Keith said, trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

Lance raised an eyebrow, “Really? That’s probably because you’ve never tried anything different, Mr. Work Robot.” Keith was both pissed and caught off guard about how close that hit home. He knew he was right, but that fact just pissed him off more.

Keith scowled at him, “Shut the fuck up cargo pilot,” he bit at him. Lance would’ve at one time receded to the nickname, or let him enrage him further- but after months of the living together it didn’t even _phase_ him.

Lance didn’t do so much as blink, replying “I’ll say what I want dropout.” Keith scoffed at him, rolling his eyes heavily.

Lance put his hands on his hips, giving a cocky look. “You’re just angry because you know I’m right,” he grinned, and Keith felt himself go hot for two reasons.

One was the fact that Lance was absolutely right and that pissed Keith off to no end, and the other was the fact that Keith couldn’t help but notice how narrow Lance’s hips were in comparison to his broad shoulders, and that the dark fabric under his jacket wasn’t his usual shirt but oh _shit he was still wearing the tank top-_

“Fine I’ll watch a movie or whatever, as long as it ends this conversation,” Keith said quickly, crossing his arms and looking away, trying to appear disinterested and annoyed into submission when in reality he was turning red around the ears and had a constant stream of internal screaming going through his head.

This was the worst- the _fucking_ worst, he was going to spontaneously combust and die and it was all Lance’s fault-

“Yes! Movie night is on! Try to be as gloomy as you want Edgelord we are _all_ gonna have a fun time tonight whether you like or not!” Keith shook his head and smiled despite himself. Leave it Lance to make everything at challenge.

“You are both ridiculous,” Pidge said hopping off the counter, “and extremely gross.”

“Yeah, _ridiculously_ handsome,” Lance said, shooting finger guns at Pidge, making them roll their eyes and mock throwing up, leaning on Hunk for support.

“You do realize you just complimented Keith too right?” Hunk pointed out slyly, still holding a still fake vomiting Pidge in one arm.

Keith turned red for the tenth thousandth time that day.

Somebody please just end his misery now.

Before Lance could scoff and insult something or make everything even worse, Keith crossed his arms and said “Hey, leave me out of your lame puns.”

Lance put a hand on his chest, feigning hurt, “Excuse me, I do not make puns- that’s Hunk’s thing. I have only the dankest of memes, and we leave all the sarcasm for Pidge,” he said pointedly.

“Damn right you do,” Pidge said, still slung over Hunks arm.

Keith’s face scrunched with confusion. “Aren’t puns and memes like the same thing?” He asked, honestly unsure.

“How could you hurt me like this Keith,” Lance said, eyes wide and over dramatic expression flaring. “After we bonded-”

“Oh god do not bring that up right now,” Please Lance he doesn’t need to overanalyze _that_ moment again-

“-When you cradled me in your arms-” Please someone kill Keith right now. End his suffering. If Lotor were to show up right now in a battle cruiser, Keith would just lie in on the floor and beg the space douche to just run him over. That was the point he was at now.

“This is unacceptable,” Lance shook his head, “we need to give you a proper education as soon as possible. This cannot stand. Not in my house!” He shouted, slamming his fist on the counter top.

“Uh, actually this is Allura’s castle I’m pretty sure-” Keith said, honestly not thinking about what he was saying because a great portion of his mind was busy obsessing on every single detail about that ‘bonding’ moment, freeze framing every small smile and analyzing the ever living fuck about it,

The other part of Keith’s brain  was still screaming.

Lance flushed, snapping “My house! _Esta es mi casa, puta, y si me avergüenzas una vez más, te echaré de la escotilla del castillo, aunque seas guapo!_ ”

And if Keith’s problems weren’t great enough, his fucking insides just imploded.

Keith knew Lance was bilingual. Everyone on board knew Lance was bilingual. During battles that were particularly hard it was commonplace to hear Spanish curse words littering the comms, or occasionally long streams of curses that despite not being able to understand exactly what he was saying, everyone got the general tone.

But Keith had never really heard Lance speak Spanish in person. At him. Even if it was an insult, the language was much smoother and sounded much _much_ more appealing from Lance's lips than over the crackle of the helmet’s speakers. It sounded at least 1000% better than English, easily.

Another thing that should be illegal throughout the galaxy: Lance ever speaking Spanish. Like, _ever_.

Poor Keith wasn’t even capable of making words anymore, just stuttering out a flushed, “Uh, what?”

Lance stormed off, hands in the air and muttering to himself both in Spanish and in English, irritated and seemingly ignorant to Keith’s current state of a pathetic melted pile of blushing goo, frozen where he left him.

Pidge and Hunk however, were not.

“Keith, looking a little red there bud, you okay?” If this was coming from Hunk, he might think it was genuine concern. Coming from the Gremlin standing next him with a shiteating grin, however, made it seem just the opposite it.

“He’s just so annoying sometimes!” Keith said, trying to pass off his reddened face for exasperation and anger than well… whatever it actually was.

(It was crush. He knew it was crush and he hated it.)

(Fuck you McClain)

“Uh huh, annoying- right,” Hunk said, raising an unsure eyebrow.

Keith froze. Shit, shit, he was caught- everything was about to be weird and there was nothing he could do to stop it- this was the end of Keith Kogane, he died as he lived, being a fucking _idiot_ -

Keith tried to gather himself to retain his expression. “Yeah he is- he’s just so extra all the damn time-” That got a snicker out of both of them, Hunk nodding and saying, “That he is,” while Pidge cackled “That is the first time I think I’ve ever heard you use the word extra out loud and it’s perfect holy shit-”

Keith quietly let out a sigh of relief. Looks like crisis is averted. Now to casually try to find a way to run away from this conversation so he can scream in a pillow for the next eternity- _he meant go train, yes training, that’s what he was going to do-_

“Well I’m gonna go to the training deck, call me up whenever dinner’s ready,” Keith said, trying his hardest to remain casual when he was well aware that he was the color of a tomato and looking shifty as hell, backing out the kitchen area and back into the hallway, trying his hardest not to sprint away. He went for a solid power walk instead.

Hunk looked over at where Keith left in a hurry, saying “He’s being weirder than usual.”

Pidge grunted in agreement while gathering their papers, nodding and adding “I think our local gay is becoming self-aware. Now help me carry these plans down to my work bench, I need some help on the mechanical processes on it.” “No problemo,” Hunk responded.

Keith on the other hand was still dying on the inside. He needed to get a grip on this stupid crush and he needed to get it now. He couldn’t let something as dumb as this affect his ability to talk with anyone on board.

Shiro said that this might be a temporary thing right? That he just had to wait out the crush until it faded away into nothing. That’s all this was. Keith just had too much time on his hands and he was projecting his gay feelings onto the nearest male that wasn’t practically his brother or the teletubby sun, cinnamon roll Hunk.

It meant nothing. He had to keep reminding himself that. Lance was a cocky asshole, and this crush meant nothing. Lance was hot, but he was an annoying asshole.

If he kept that in mind, nothing would go wrong.

Even if Keith already knew that Lance was capable of being a focused, serious person who took important things with great weight and could shoot a bottle cap off of a post from miles away-

Keith accidentally ran into the wall of next doorway.

Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap you guys thank you so much for the support! I didn't expect so many of you like this, let me tell I read very comment like 20 times over and over. Thanks everyone for sending your kudos and comments- please do again! Trust me when I say it makes me work faster. All comments are loved and appericated 1000%. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!


	3. Chapter 3

Training was actually one of the best ways Keith could think.

It kept him engaged and expended any extra energy that filled him with anxiety. Working out was the best way to get rid of unwanted emotions too. But this time, it wasn’t working so well.

Left, parry thrust- _try to forget the image of Lance laughing-_ duck, swing right- _tell yourself he's not attractive at all_ \- and get smacked on floor by the battle droid.

“Pause training sequence!” Keith caused out, the droid freezing. Keith pulled himself up to a sitting position, resting his his arms on his knees while trying to catch his breath.

Yeesh, he really needs to stop letting this whole crush thing get to him so much. In all honesty it’s probably because he’s never had a crush before- as embarrassing as it is.

Everything else he can hold back- pain, secrets, fear, sadness, okay he was still working on anger but hey no one's perfect- but crushes? That’s a new field.

Keith leaned back on his elbows, chest finally starting to calm down and thoughts beginning to clear.

Maybe, this crush thing _wasn’t_ as new as it felt. Feelings as persistent and annoying as these usually don’t just pop up over night right? Maybe… maybe this was going on for a lot longer than he realized.

It wasn’t an idea that was that far-fetched, Keith did have bad habit of repressing and ignoring any feelings he didn’t deem immediately vital to surviving.

It wasn’t completely out the realm of possibility that Keith was simply ignoring any small attraction he may have had Lance throughout their entire journey- until life slowed down just enough to let it explode and his mind telling him; _Hey Keith, just a reminder that you’re really really gay._

Well thanks brain. He got the memo.

Keith sighed, rubbing his forehead. This was getting ridiculous. His presumption wasn't wrong- but it was still ridiculous.

There were plenty of times that Lance _wasn't_ being annoying or stupid to be fair, during fights when they had each others backs, or when he wasn't actively trying to flirt with the nearest living being ~~that wasn't Keith~~ . And as Keith had extensively covered, anyone with eyes could tell that Lance wasn't _bad_ looking- and looking back on it, the more Keith noticed it.

 _Stop that,_ Keith told himself, hitting his head, _purposely looking for how long you've noticed him will make_ _nothing_ _better._

He fell backwards, laying flat on the ground like a sweaty, overworked and overstressed pancake.

This was stupid. So, _so_ stupid.

He needed something to happen- anything. Just something that could push this to the back of his mind again. Emotions were… troublesome. An annoying source of more issues. Something Keith really didn't like dealing with.

Just wait it out, he told himself, it will wear away eventually. Lance was an annoying, flirtatious, self-centered, overcompensating, good looking _idiot_ \- nothing more or less. He may have his shining moments but that was it.

Keith was just projecting what he wants to see on to him. That's what it had to be. Nothing more or less.

 _He’s a self centered jerk, he’s a self centered jerk,_ Keith repeated to himself, not noticing the sound of the training deck door sliding open.

_He’s a self centered jerk, He’s a self centered jerk, He’s a self centered jerk-_

“Laying around on the job are we?”

“You're a self centered jerk,”

The words left Keith's mouth before he could process them or who he was speaking too, slapping a hand over his mouth.

Shiro raised an eyebrow at him, “Really? And why’s that?”

Keith jumped up to a sitting position, hand still covering his mouth and eyes wide with horror. “Shiro! Shit, I'm sorry- I wasn't- that's wasn't about you,” Keith stuttered out.

Shiros eyebrow went higher.

“Oh? Then who was it about?” The small but completely evil grin that had made its way on Shiro’s face showed he knew exactly that statement was about.

Keith neither confirmed or denied, but buried his face his hands and groaned, lying back onto the floor.

“I hate you,” Keith, muffled against the palms of his gloves, trying to block out reality. Why did he ever think telling Shiro was good idea? He was like an older brother to Keith- and Keith apparently forgot that the title of ‘sibling’ also entailed being a an eternal little-shit to the other person.

Why can’t he just be a Dad to Keith like he is to everyone else. If this is ‘special treatment’ for knowing him the longest then _he doesn’t want it._

“Oh come on Keith,” Shiro laughed, and Keith just groaned again and tried to burrow further into his palms.

Why was this his life? What did he do wrong in a past life to deserve this? Kill babies? That’s what this felt like- killing babies karma.

“You. Are. The worst.” Keith replied, trying to ignore Shiro’s laughter the best he could, muttering, “I should’ve never told you about this.”  
“Keith,” Shiro pleaded, amusement still in voice, “Come on Keith I’m sorry-” “You don’t _sound_ sorry!” Shiro held back another laugh, “No, no I am- Keith having a crush is nothing to be ashamed of-” “Stop saying that!” Keith yelled, moving his hands to glare at Shiro.  
“What? That you have a crush on La-” “ **SHIRO. WHY ARE YOU HERE**.”

Shiro grinned but dropped the subject, putting his hands on his hips and talking as Keith stood, “Dinner’s ready- Hunk and Coran made something new tonight. Also they said something about a movie?” Keith ran a hand through his hair, undoing the ponytail that he kept for training.

Oh yeah, _that._ Keith had completely forgotten about the movie ordeal. He just hoped that they could understand anything that happened in it.

“Got it,” Keith said, “I’ll be up in a minute.”

Shiro nodded at him, “Okay, don’t be too late. Training’s not good for you when you overwork yourself.” Keith rolled his eyes, “Okay Mom,” he said sarcastically, grabbing his sword and getting ready to restart the training session.

Shiro gave him a sly look, leaning back in once he was already halfway out of the door, “And try not to get to _distracted_ ,”

Keith tripped over his own feet. “SHIRO!”

“See you are dinner Keith!” Shiro called, his laughter echoing all the way down the hallway.

Keith sighed and turned back to the droid, calling out another command.

Something told him he was going to have to train a lot more to get this anxiety out.

\-----------

“Keith, you’re late!” Coran’s miffed yell was the first thing that reached Keith’s ear as he made his way to the dining table, finding his usual seat.

“Sorry,” Keith said, ruffling his damp hair, “Training went a little longer than I planned- thought I should freshen up.” Keith slid into his chair, looking at his space dinner that somewhat resembled an omelette.

“Well thanks for that, I’d rather not be smelling Keith must forever,” Lance snarked from the chair next to him, Keith rolling his eyes and ignoring Lance (and the satisfied feeling Keith got when Lance talked to him). He took a bite of the food instead, which tasted more like weird fruit than eggs, and listened to the others talk.

“As I was saying,” Pidge continued presumably from before Keith arrived, “the extra turbines I was building for the miniships won’t explode this time- so can I try attaching them and giving them a whirl after we’re done visiting the next planet?” Coran considered it for a moment, and it took Keith a second to figure out what they were talking about.

“Wait, you mean the thing that nearly exploded me and Allura? What? No way can we try that out again!” Keith exclaimed, swallowing down a piece of fruit-omelette-thing.

Pidge gave Keith an even look, “It didn’t kill you guys, look you’re both here perfectly fine. I built that extra feature without fully understanding Altean tech. Now I do, and I’ve made improvements. According to me and Hunk’s calculations, it’ll be fine.”

Keith didn’t say anything but was clearly doubtful. Yeah they weren’t killed, but it was one damn near close call. One he was not looking forward to ever repeating.

“I’ll look over it beforehand but sure! Let’s give a go!” Coran said enthusiastically, hitting the table so that his weird jello looking side dish wobbled and near tipped over.

Allura looked cautious as well, “Alright, but be careful. I don’t want any explosions,” she warned. Keith still wasn’t convinced.

“So Princess,” Shiro changed the subject, “what exactly is the plan for tomorrow?”

“Standard ambassador mission- the planet we are going to is fairly advanced and due to their state of the art technology has managed to evade being taken over by the Galra. They are rather peaceful and nonviolent- but we can use all the help we can get in building an Alliance against Zarkon and Prince Lotor. We will land tomorrow at about noon, and have lunch and discuss with the leaders of the planet. Remember, it is an extremely peaceful planet so no fighting,” Allura said, giving Keith a pointed look.

Keith raised his arms defensively, “Why do you always look me when you say that?” He asked, semi-offended.

“Keith, my dude, you are the one who tried to fight an Arusian that one time,” Hunk pointed out while taking a mouthful of space omelette.

Keith huffed and crossed his arms, “He was their bravest warrior- just because something is small doesn’t make it not dangerous,” he muttered, trying not to turn red. Why did everyone keep holding that against him?

“True that,” Pidge agreed, whilst Hunk frowned and said “That was a double negative and it just made me very uncomfortable-”

Lance on the other hand pulled his attention (no fucking surprise there), crossing his arms and smirking at Keith.“Look at you, the big bad red paladin's scared of a little Arusian,” he teased, making Keith flush red even more and stubbornness increase by 500 percent.

“I was being precautious!” Keith objected, voice raised and ready if not wanting an argument.

“Alright that’s enough,” Shiro broke everyone off, Lance shrugging and Keith settling back down in his chair, still annoyed.

“We all should be careful- we have to be ready for anything. But,” Shiro paused, tone shifting from ‘commander’ to ‘Dad Shiro’, “it should be a piece of cake so tonight, Hunk and Pidge got the idea to watch a movie tonight- is everyone on board?”

There were nods around the table, Lance grinning excitedly and saying “Man I haven’t seen a movie in like _years._ The Garrison basically had a ban on fun and we’ve been space battling for so long I need a _break_ ,” Lance declared overdramatically, slumping in his chair until his chin was resting on the table.

Keith raised an eyebrow at him, “Uh Lance? We’ve been on a break for like the last month.” He pointed out, but only got a bewildered look back.

“Keith, this is not a break. We’ve been working constantly,” He said back flatly, and Keith frowned in return.

“I mean I know things have settled down but that’s not an actual break Keith what the hell,” Lance continued, giving him an odd look before sighing, rolling his eyes then shaking his head, “You don’t even know what a break is, holy shit. No wonder you were good at Garrison, you don’t even know what fun is.”

“I know what fun is,” Keith objected. Hover bikes were fun. Conspiracy theories were fun. Movies were occasionally fun. Keith knew enough about what was fun.

Lance snorted, “Sure workaholic. Can somebody teach this boy how to relax?” he asked, gesturing to the rest of the table who were watching the interaction either mildly amused and annoyed.

“Well I mean, you'd probably be the best at that Lance,” Shiro said innocuously, looking genuinely honest besides the corners of his mouth that were struggling not pull upward. Shiro. Shiro what the fuck are you doing.

Keith gave him a warning glance and subtly shook his head. _Don’t you dare, you asshole._ If Shiro saw it, he ignored it. Scratch that, Keith is sure he saw it, but  if anything, that might have pushed Shiro on.

“I mean, you are probably the most ‘fun loving’ on the team, for better or worse,” he continued whilst Keith removed his brother status in his mind and screamed internally. How could he do this to him. How.

Lance on the other hand basked in Shiro’s words, grinning and leaning back, “You’re right,” he agreed proudly, “I am the most chill one here. But I don’t want to be with _Keith_ all day,” he snarked, and _wow_ did that hurt.

It didn’t hurt, Keith told himself, he’s said way worse before. But still, there was pang in his chest and he hated it.

Fuck you Lance.

“Don’t think you could do it?” Pidge challenged, quirking an eyebrow and _dear god please don’t tell me they’re in on it too Shiro if you told Pidge I’m going to fucking kill you-_

“Of course I could do it! But that doesn’t mean I _want_ to, Keith is not worthy of lessons from the master,” Lance said, high on his pride.

Pidge smirked. That was never a good sign. “Really? Cause it sounds like you’re just chickening out. Like I can’t blame you he’s a difficult case-” “Hey!” “-but that was a Class One Chicken Out move,” Pidge said, and Keith could literally feel the stubbornness building next to him.

Oh no.

“I am not a chicken!” Lance yelled, leaning over the table a little bit. Pidge just smirked at him before making squawking noises at a very infuriated Lance, Hunk trying to hold back his laughter while Allura and Coran just looked very confused by everything that was happening.

Shiro on the other hand… Shiro looked downright smug. Keith takes back any thing positive he ever said about him.

Lance’s face was slowly turning red as Pidge continued, Keith sinking down in his seat as Lance rose up, yelling back at Pidge, “I. AM NOT. A CHICKEN!” Pidge proceeded to ignore him and keep squawking. “I’m not a chicken! I could help Keith if I wanted to!”

“But you can’t,” Pidge teased, and Keith was 100% sure they knew what they were doing. “I can and I will you quiznak!” Lance yelled.

Keith didn’t really understand the first part of that sentence, just adding in dumbly, “I don’t think you’re using that word right-”

Lance spun on him. “Shut up Keith! You are going to learn how to chill for once whether you like it or not!,” he yelled, leaning down into Keith’s space and overheating the poor red paladin's brain. Shit, _shit_ he was really close.

Lance’s face was flushed with anger and set with a determined look on his face, and if wasn’t being so _annoying_ right now, it might have looked a little hot. Okay a lot hot, who was he kidding anymore.

“Uh,” Keith said intelligently, Lance leaning back and facing Pidge, saying “And when I do you can shut your mouth forever!”

Pidge just shrugged and laid back, taking a very smug bite of food while Hunk was shaking trying to hold back laughter. It was only at this moment that Keith actually processed what Lance had said.

Teach him how to chill. How to relax. How to have fun. Lance was going to try to teach Keith how to relax.

Though there were no contations coming from Lance for the first time, Keith’s mind exploded.

Shit, shit, _shit_. Lance was going to be purposely around him more often now. This was bad. This was really bad. Getting rid of this stupid crush was going to be even more difficult when being to surrounded by the person causing it. Not to mention it was going to be a pretty difficult time getting Keith to relax when he was screaming internally every time Lance did something semi-attractive.

Keith was going to die. That was simply what was going to happen. Keith was going to die and it was all Shiro’s fault.

In the midst of Keith's mental meltdown. Shiro had seemed to have calmed the table Pidge giving the most insincere apology, Keith fully knowing that Shiro was probably high fiving them under the table.

The meal was already almost over- Hunk telling everyone dessert would be with the movie or holovid whatever it was, while Lance ran out to go pick the movie. Allura and Shiro followed- Allura to help navigate what the movies actually were and Shiro make sure whatever Lance chose was appropriate.

Coran and Pidge helped clean up the kitchen while Hunk gathered the snacks, recruiting a still stunned Keith to help him carry them over to the screening area.

“So, where exactly are we watching this?” Keith asked, arms full of something that looked like popcorn but smelled like peaches.

“On the bridge actually,” Hunk said, carrying a platter of his own dishes.

“Wait really?” Keith said, almost dropping a few pieces of popcorn(?), “they don’t like, have separate room for that?”

Hunk shrugged. “Apparently they do, but Allura told us Altean movies were a bit more… _intense_ then what we’re used to. The projectors on the bridge is probably the most normal we can get out here, plus Allura wants us to be ready if anything happens so two birds one stone right? Plus the other room doesn’t have chairs apparently and Lance would’ve whined the whole time if we didn’t.”

Keith scoffed. “Yeah I believe it,” he muttered.

Lance for all of his good traits, was still a whiny baby at times. Keith deep down knew that Lance wasn’t serious most of those times, but it was still annoying to Keith, and didn’t fully make sense to him.

Keith learned real quick in life that whining gets you nowhere, so you shut up and either deal with what you have or change it.

Lance on the other hand just liked to talk for the sake of talking- and even if he did have good voice, there’s a point where a person stops. Keith’s not even sure if Lance has that point.

This was good, Keith told himself. He just had to keep thinking like this, reminding himself that Lance is just a guy who's got faults and habits that sucked or were annoying.

He couldn’t let himself put Lance on a pedestal. If he did that, he was as good as gone.

 _You might be as good as gone anyways,_ a rebellious part of his mind pointed out.

Shut up, Keith told himself.

“Hey Keith, you alright man?” Hunk’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Uh, yeah I’m fine,” Keith replied. Liar.

“Okay, you sort of spaced out there,” Hunk said looking at him closely, “anything on your mind?” Keith shied away from Hunk’s inspection and his question, trying to think of something to say.

Keith was no idiot, he knew damn well that Hunk was pretty observant- it’s what made him such a great engineer. And he was the last person he needed catching wind of his little… problem.

“Nothing specific,” Keith lied, “just random stuff. Also wondering what this movies going to be about,” he added, desperately trying to change the subject.

Hunk shrugged, “Man it beats me- Altean holovids could be like anything dude. At least they have the feature where they are automatically translated to our language- you should really look at the aspects of translation technology and language culture of the Alteans, it’s seriously fascinating, but as for the movie if Lance is picking it expect some kind of drama probably,” Hunk said as they rounded a corner.

Keith gave him a surprised look, “Really? I would’ve pegged him for a more an action guy, you know, explosions, hot girls, that stuff,” Keith said.

Hunk shook his head with a grin, “Nah, Lance grew up with soaps as a kid, and let me tell you he _took_ to them. He’ll take a good romantic drama or comedy any day,” Hunk said.

Keith nodded, letting out a little “Huh,” as he processed the information. Soap operas huh? There seemed to be lot Keith didn’t really know about Lance.

It may have been stupidly small, but the little piece of information made Keith feel a lighter, knowing something new about Lance.

Keith shook his head, as if to dispel the thought. He couldn’t think like that if this stupid crush was ever going to go away.

But despite his best efforts, the feeling his chest remained, persistent and all too pleasant.

__

Setting up the movie was relatively easy. Once Hunk and Keith got to the bridge they put down the snacks, raising the piloting chairs and settling down.

Keith sat down in his chair, pulling his legs to cross them and set down the popcorn fruit between his legs, scooting his back down the chair to make himself more comfortable.

The chairs were kind of far apart from each other, but Keith was more than okay with that. Two things he loved- personal space and leg room. Also, it was probably best that he wasn’t near Lance for as much as possible.

Hunk frowned at the distance however, mentioning something about maybe having to run back down to the kitchen to get additional bowls or plates for each individual person.

Keith didn’t see the big deal about the food or the distance- wasn’t it just a movie? Everyone was making such a big deal about it for some reason. Normally people just put on movies on a whim and watch them, right?

But the way everyone was making it an event, planning out and hyping it up, made it different. Maybe because it was Altean, or the first movie they’d actually watched together.

It seemed a little extreme to Keith. But if it made them happy, they could knock themselves out.

Hunk was about to rush out of the room to get more plates when Lance, Allura, and Shiro entered, holding what looked like a mid sized cube and small thumb sized disks, talking excitedly.

Lance took one look at Keith curled up in his pilot chair, taking a bite of the weird peach popcorn thing- which was oddly good on the contrary to what it sounded like- and he lost it.

“No, no, no, no! Nope, that is not how we are doing this, this is unacceptable on every level of unacceptable!” he ranted.

Keith looked at him, confused. “What do you mean?” he asked suspiciously. Did he have problem with the weird popcorn?

Lance glared, stalking over the controls. “We are not sitting that far apart, that is _unacceptable_ , we will all sit on the damn floor with cushions and shit before that happens- this is not how to watch a movie what were you even thinking Keith?” He asked accusatory, looking for the control to sink the chairs back into the floor.

“Hey I didn’t do this! None of this was my idea, I’m literally just following you guys!” Keith objected, sitting up and getting off of the chair.

“Well you’re doing a bad job,” Lance said unreasonably, still looking over the controls before giving up and turning to Allura, “Princess could you fix this please? I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said, storming off through the halls.

Silence fell over the room in the wake of Lance’s… Lanceness.

“I’ll go make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid,” Hunk said, dashing after him. Shiro shook his head, chuckling while Allura simply rolled her eyes but did lower the chairs.

Keith just rolled his eyes as well, taking another bite of the pop fruit (or at least that's what Hunk called it) and trying to ignore that not only did he just lose his personal space for this movie, he probably just lost any chance he had of being separated from Lance.

With Shiro working against him like this, he was surely doomed.

Speaking of which…

“Hey Shiro,” Keith called, pulling the Paladin’s attention away from ~~staring at~~ _waiting_ for Allura to be done, “Could you come over here for a sec?”

Shiro looked between Keith and the princess, walking over slowly and at least having the decency to look embarrassed. Good. He should be.

“What’s up Keith?” He asked, obviously knowing where the conversation was heading.

“Hm, nothing much, just what the _fuck_ was that at dinner?” Keith hissed under his breath, trying to make sure the princess didn’t hear.

“Look, Keith-” “No! You don’t get ‘Look, Keith’ me! What the hell man! I tell you something, in confidence, and you take that as an go sign for you to meddle? What’s the number one rule when it comes to dealing with me? Never. Meddle!” Keith whispered furiously.

Shiro at least looked a little sorry, “Look Keith, I know I might’ve crossed the line a little bit,” “You _think!”_ “But I never meant anything bad by it. I just- I really think you deserve and have the chance to make yourself happy, and I want you to have that! But I know you are shutting it down before you even get a chance to really think of it properly so I may have, uh, meddled a little-”

Keith shook his head at Shiro’s words, “Shiro, that’s not your call to make! This doesn’t make me happy, not in the slightest! It’s stupid, immature, anxiety inducing and a pain in the ass! Lance is Lance and that’s not something that’s going to change- and when this _thing_ fades he will be the same annoying cocky guy as before,” Keith implored.

Shiro frowned at Keith’s words, “Keith, I think you're really selling Lance a little short here- there's a lot more to him than you realize,” Shiro said, but Keith cut him off.

“I don’t _want_ to realize. I just want this to go away. But no matter what convoluted logic you give there was **no** excuse for telling Pidge.”

Shiro looked taken aback by his words. “Pidge? What do you mean?”

Keith rolled his eyes, having no patience for any acts at this point. “You know what I mean Shiro. I didn’t think you’d ever do anything like that,” Keith said, trying not to sound so betrayed.

Shiro shook his head, “Keith, I didn’t tell Pidge anything. Whatever they know or not know, none of it came from me. I may have meddled a little, but I would _never_ tell anyone. Ever. I promise that Keith,” Shiro said sincerely.

Keith felt his anger melt a little at his seriousness.“Good,” Keith said, none too relieved that his trust wasn’t completely betrayed.

Shiro, whether Keith liked it or not, was practically the only family he had- he was one of the only people he trusted implicitly. And even though he was a meddling _dick_ sometimes, Keith did trust him.

The sound of the doors sliding open broke up their conversation, the two separating as Lance and Hunk reentered carrying an insane amount of blankets and cushions taken from all over the castle.

“Alright, let’s fix this mess,” Lance said, face barely visible over the pile of blankets and pillows.

He waddled over to the center of the room, dropping his load of stolen goods and began organizing them, putting down several cushions so that it was big enough for all of them, and laying blankets over the cushion, save a few and _hey what the hell_ -

“Wait is that my blanket?” Keith accused, coming up beside Lance.

Lance turned back and gave him a look “Oh please all of the blankets look the same,” but Keith _knew_ it was his blanket, he could just tell, and fuck if he wasn’t annoyed.

“You can’t just go into people’s rooms and take things!” He objected, but Lance just gave him a grin and said “You can if it’s an emergency and let me tell you that movie set up _was_ an emergency." 

Keith wanted to tear his hair out, roll his eyes, and laugh all at once. How the fuck did find that kind of charming. How.

Keith wanted to punch himself in the face. He settled for a facepalm instead.

“You are ridiculous.” Who he was talking to, he wasn’t sure.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road!” Coran’s voice rang out, accompanied by the swishing of the doors sliding open  and Pidge by his side.

Shiro nodded, “Alright, everyone get settled down, Princess if you want a separate chair we can get you one-”

“No I’m alright,” Allura assured him with a small smile, “I want to enjoy this holovid with my paladins tonight, if you all don’t mind,” she said gently. Shiro looked a little surprised, but happily so. “Alright. No problem,” he said, and anyone with ears could hear how happy he was. Hypocrite.

“Alright Paladins,” Coran called for attention, “as you all get yourself settled let me warn you for a tick, these eh ‘movies’ as you call them are slightly different than your earth pictures- they are a 360 degree three dimensional experience that you are a part of," he explained while fiddling with the cube they brought in.

"Now, usually Alteans would be standing and a part of the action, but we wanted to take it easy tonight so we’re going to be watching a spectator video. The holovid will be all around you, so even though the main action will mostly be straight in front, remember to look around every once and awhile- looking behind you is how to find the best hints and clues of the story!” Coran explained excitedly as they all sat down.

Much to Keith’s relief he didn’t end up next to Lance, but instead on the outside to the right next to Hunk, who sat between him and Lance, Pidge who had questionable amount of knowledge on Keith’s ‘issue’ on the other side of Lance. At least Shiro was good three people away from meddling again.

“We do have a holovid screening room,” Coran continued, trying to connect a wire to the sleek cube in his hand, “but holovids are quite known for being very very realistic so we figured a less intense and immersive environment might be best for your first time watching one, so the bridge was the best place with projection abilities that wasn’t too real."

Coran paused for second, holding up one of the small disks and reading it, "Tonight we’ll be watching from Lance’s selection… The Forgotten Lorous! Oh, excellent choice Lance, this is one of my favorites! A good mystery and drama, a true classic,” Coran declared whilst inserting it to the cube.

“Mystery?” Keith asked, a little surprised. He wasn’t expecting that from Lance.

Lance shrugged in return. “The princess said it was good. Plus I figured you conspiracy nerds would love trying to figure out the answer before anyone else, so win-win.”

Pidge cheered in agreement, eyes sparkling while Keith try to stop the soft feeling from inside of him. Lance had actually thought of Keith while picking a movie- not choosing something he would purposely hate.

Keith ignored the feelings and shrunk further in on himself. It meant nothing Keith. He was just being a good person. Lance may act like  a jerk but he’s not actually that mean- this wasn’t anything personal.

Despite Keith’s self assurances, he was surely going to be over thinking that for the next century. Great.

“Alright everyone, I’ll just pop the vid in andddd with a little trickery connect it to projection systems and ta-dah!”

At Coran’s exclamation, the small box he was fiddling with that now had a cord connecting it to the controls levitated into the air, attaching itself to the ceiling with a metal ‘clink’.

With that, the lights in the room dimmed, and the world around them shuddered at holograms began building themselves around the group, shimmering lights, materializing and turning black, the only visible things being them in a circle of reality, the controls still behind them and still able to see each other, along with the white script title screen that appeared over where the front window would’ve been.

Keith was a little unsettled, but was overall getting used to the immersive idea of the movie. Still, the sudden replacement of reality made him uneasy.

“Coran,” Keith called out to where he sat on the opposite side of the mattress to the left of Allura, “If something were to happen and alert the castle, we would still be able to be aware of it right?”

Coran’s perky “Yes!” was drowned out in the loudness of Lance’s groaning. “Keithhhh,” he whined, “What the fuck.”

Keith felt like he was being attacked for no reason. “What? I just wanted to make sure in case something happened-”

“Nope, nope, we are stopping this now.  Hunk move over,” Lance demanded, and Keith felt himself freeze. No. He couldn’t be doing what Keith thought he was doing.

But lo and behold, Hunk scooted over to where Lance used to sit, whilst the attractive beanpole in question plopped himself down next to Keith. Directly next him. Like, _touching_ him next to him.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked, trying not to come off as flustered as he was.

“My _job,_ ” Lance said, taking a handful of food in one hand and hauling one of the blankets onto his lap, “I’m going to make sure you fucking relax for once and actually enjoy this movie and stop thinking about everything so much,” he demanded, daring Keith to disagree.

“I’m not stressed,” Keith protested, knowing he was lying but not for the reasons Lance thought.

Lance just glared at him, “Really? Because somehow in an all immersive 3D surround image movie I guarantee you’ll still have your mind on the outside world,” He said.

“I won’t!” Keith argued, and Lance narrowed his eyes at him.

“Yeah? Then prove it.” He challenged, and Keith responded with “I will!” before really processing that he totally just fell for Lance’s game.

“Shhh! It’s starting!” Pidge shushed them.

Keith and Lance turned back to the screen, saying nothing else as they slowly watched the world around from them fade in from black to color, the images of a beautiful futuristic looking cityscape that Keith could only assume was Altea.

He found his eyes darting towards Allura and Coran, who looked bittersweetly at their former planet, Allura’s eyes looking misty.

A small movement caught Keith’s eyes, Shiro’s hand moving and taking Allura’s, squeezing it in a comforting gesture. She gave him a small reassuring smile, leaning into him whilst putting a comforting hand on Coran’s arm, the two sharing in their loss.

Keith then processed how much courage it must have taken them to watch these holovids- with their home now long gone. He felt like an idiot now for not treating this with more importance.

Keith was brought back to the movie when he heard what sounded like an important interaction occurring, and fell into the story.

To be honest, it was a lot easier for Keith to get more absorbed in this movie than any other.

It had something to do with a missing Altean, a messy family feud, a old myth and a conspiracy. Keith was enraptured. He loved turning around too, as the action continued past what a normal movie would jump cut. He didn’t notice himself anymore, too focused on the story.

It wasn’t until there was major scene change when the holograms dimmed black for a second before brightening back up in a different setting did Keith really become aware of himself.

They must have been there for what was already a half hour to an hour, and a blanket was sprawled over his legs. Food was littered around his lap and on the pillows, his leg was pressed against Lances and his arms were propping him up and _wait what._

Keith froze, now acutely aware that yes, the warmth pressing against Keith’s knee and leg was Lance’s own legs, comfortable and natural.

What.

W h a t.

Keith had to resist the urge to suddenly jerk away, just tensing up and his mind going a million miles an hour.

Just play it cool Keith. No one can see you blush like an idiot in the dark. That is, unless they are sitting directly next to you.

Lance must have felt him randomly tense up, turning to him and whispering, “Hey you okay?” No. No he was not okay and asking that all sincerely _was not helping._

“Uh,” Keith said, trying to find an explanation that wasn’t stupid or obvious.

“You look constipated,” Lance added and Keith felt his anxiety drop. Yep, _there’s_ Lance.

“I’m fine,” Keith deadpanned.

Lance gave him a narrow-eyed look, raising an eyebrow but turned back to the scene in front them, some dramatic confrontation between the main character and their prospective romantic interest who had been hiding truths from them- trying to excuse their traitorous actions.

“So what do you think,” Lance whispered to him, surprising Keith with additional non-combative dialogue, “has she really been working against him the entire time?”

Keith looked at scene and Altean woman’s pleading face, but from all evidence he’d seen he concluded; “Probably. Either they are going to spin it that she’s being blackmailed or she was in on it all along. It’s a possibility,” Keith said.

Lance nodded, leaning over to whisper to him, “Yeah I think so too. They are also setting up a romance between him and Latone so it would make sense,” Lance said, surprising him not only with his theory but also the pure fact the wasn’t purposely disagreeing with him. Did hell finally freeze over or something?

“Really? The one from the university thing? I thought he hated that guy,” Keith said.

Lance shook his head, “Please, that’s textbook romance set up. He can’t stand him, but he needs him if he’s ever going to figure out what happens- he ends up being one of the few people he can trust and they realize that they actually care about each other more than they said. Alteans may be a complete different culture, but some tropes are universal.” Lance said, evidence of his extensive soap opera knowledge coming out.

Keith now felt a lot more uncomfortable with the romantic subplot in the movie. Rivals who develop feelings for eachother? That had to be just a coincidence right?

Keith felt the urge to look over at Allura and assess if she knew anything about Keith’s problem.

Though Shiro promised not to say anything, his self control and careful watched words did seem to falter in the princess’s presence.

For all of his virtues, he might have let something slip on accident and Keith would then have to throw himself into the nearest sun to avoid the embarrassment that was heading his way. If Shiro was bad with meddling, Allura would be a _nightmare._

He could feel Lance giving him a weird look so Keith snapped his eyes back to scene in front him, the main character storming off as Keith muttered, “I don’t know, you might be right.”

Lance gave him a laid back, teasing grin, “Not a fan of romance movies?” He asked.

Keith shook his head, “No. I’m really bad with that stuff. It’s just… distracting.”

It was distracting in every way- just like Lance.

Distracting in every good and bad way.

Keith tried to focus on the movie, but was now aware that Lance hadn’t completely moved out of his space, shoulders touching and knees still pressed together, every point of contact warm and overly sensitive.

Keith was so fucked.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a little late on this chapter, sorry, but I made it longer as an apology. If that even counts. Well Keith's slowly coming to terms with how pining he is, there's blatant parallelism and literally everyone is meddling. Things can only get more interesting from here. Thank you everyone for your continued support- Let me tell you every comment is makes my day. Please comment and leave your support, and I'll see you in the next chapter. Thank you!


End file.
